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Post by OziRiS on Oct 28, 2014 22:59:45 GMT
Based on the incident mentioned in the "Today in the World of Weird News" thread, where a jogger ran into (well, more like crashed into) British Prime Minister David Cameron while he was on an official visit in Leeds. The jogger claimed he simply didn't recognize him and there is some controversy as to whether or not to believe his "story".
mrfatso made the following argument against believing the jogger: "I do not belive he did not recognise Cameron, how many Americans would not recognise Obama if he where walking to a car?"
On the other hand, Freegan made this comment: "I'm quite prepared to believe the guy. Cameron's visit to Leeds wasn't widely publicised and a local lad trying to get through a 'bunch of suits' trying to own the pavement (sidewalk) could have taken the attitude "outa ma way ya prima donnas"."
TLW made the comment that got me thinking that this could probably make a good test for the show: "Would I have recognized the entourage? hard to say. would I recognize Obama simply walking down the street? well, you see what you expect to see, and I don't expect to see Obama walking down the street."
So, would the average person on the average street in the average town that no celebrities worth mentioning frequent be able to recognize a celebrity suddenly "turning up out of the blue"?
I envision this test being conducted with a celebrity most people in the Bay Area would know, but who's not known nor expected to be in that area. Get that person to do everyday things with their normal entourage (if they have one), like getting coffe at a coffee shop, playing with a dog/some kids at a local park, go shopping and so forth. All of this is done at different times of day, but it can't be something like going to a club or bar on a Friday night. It has to be a regular weekday and it has to be everyday things where no one expects to stumble across a celebrity.
Follow the person with hidden cameras from a distance and with microphones on his/her person, so we're able to both see people interact with them and hear what people say to them.
Do the same again, but this time get the person to do things that would place them in more of a spotlight, but still somewhere away from places they would normally frequent. Get them to attend an interview at a local TV or radio station on a Tuesday afternoon or something similar. The variation just has to be that the place they're going to is more likely to be visited by some sort of celebrity in some sort of official capacity than the local library is.
Count how many people pass them by without even giving them a second glance and how many people take notice of them within a given timeframe.
This method is ripe for adjustments, but that's my basic idea.
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Post by the light works on Oct 28, 2014 23:42:55 GMT
My basis for comment: I spent 5 months around and about the north Los Angeles/Hollywood area. as far as I know, I crossed paths with NO celebrities on the street. - but I was not looking for celebrities.
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Post by mrfatso on Oct 29, 2014 7:10:08 GMT
On the other hand I have seen a few celebrities, Harrods Avaition has a base at Luton Airport and sometimes I have seen people that have used their services out and about before or afterwards.
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Post by OziRiS on Oct 29, 2014 8:16:22 GMT
I personally think there's some truth to what TLW says.
Case in point:
When I came to Baghdad back in '08, I was told that our team of 24 soldiers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel we were there to support/protect (12 people) were the only Danes in all of Iraq. What we didn't know was the the NATO Training Mission to Iraq had employed a Dane as a logistics specialist, so one day when we went there, I walked right past his office twice, even looking in through the door and didn't notice that it was my old platoon 2IC sitting in the chair. I didn't know he was supposed to be there, so I didn't really take note, but he knew we were supposed to be there, so he noticed instantly, but we were gone again before he had a chance to say anything. It wasn't until we accidentally bumped into each other at an American base in the Green Zone 2 weeks later that I found out he was there and I'd walked right past him without even noticing.
This guy was my 2IC for over a year and had only been transfered to a different position 4 months prior to this chance encounter.
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Post by silverdragon on Oct 29, 2014 11:19:12 GMT
I think you may have to watch out for celebrity spotters.
I know some guys in the Manchester area who purposely go out in the certain part of the city where they expect to see football stars out for a jar or two.
They go there to see who they can see.......
You also have to watch out for "$$paps$$"
Photographers who will jostle you out of the way if you are "In Shot"
Having been shoved out of the way at one point by some rude git who deserved all he got because he wanted a better shot, I can say its the followers who often make most noise.
That "Pap" who shoved me got shoved back.... and oh dear... there was a fountain... he went in it.....
Some celebs can just drop out of sight, I know one footballer who is famous in UK but unknown in LA, so goes there quite a bit, and one of the reasons he doesnt want worldwide fame is the ability to just pop down the coffee shop totally unknown.
I had one singist come in my gaff when I was running the pub one night, and asked if it gets busy... not tonight, I recognised him but want making anything of it....
He relaxed.
He relaxed even more after last orders when the doors got locked and two other regulars broke out guitars for a quick jam session... he joined in.... we didnt expect him to, but there you go.
Some want fortune and fame, some want the ability now and again just to be normal.
One of my acquaintances in the licensee trade runs a Hotel somewhere remote but stunningly beautiful, there promise is quiet and peace, they get Celebs, they dont allow photography and demand respect.
I never know who is there, but I do get to find out who has been there.... and I am a friend?... if I ever got famous, thats the kind of hotel I would want.
The Queen has been spotted in the past rattling round her country estates in an old Land-Rover wearing a heavy coat and scarf.... zero "security" detail...
Those were the days when there wasnt nutters in every hedgerow though.
I have a question for the 'Mericans on here... Presidential security... how long does that last?...
Does the Ex-President get security still?.. do the george-double-ya's of the past still get armed officers as close security?.. are they considered a target still?....
It may scare the heck outa some people like me to know if you got that kind of job you would need security for the rest of ya natural born life?...
I can see why.
I suppose there would be a dead presidents society that were nutty enough to do all the old presidents?...
Oh and by the way, you lot in MI5 CIA, and all that that have just zoned in on this post, I am asking a serious question just for interest, I have no interest in the ex-presidents of the USA, I just wondered how long the protection lasts after they leave the job... and how much that costs the tax payers....
We is a curious bunch on this forum.
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Post by the light works on Oct 29, 2014 13:52:40 GMT
legend has it the retirement package includes access to bodyguards
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Post by OziRiS on Oct 29, 2014 15:12:20 GMT
To answer that question: By law, the Secret Service is authorized to protect: - The president, the vice president, (or other individuals next in order of succession to the Office of the President), the president-elect and vice president-elect
- The immediate families of the above individuals
- Former presidents, their spouses, except when the spouse re-marries
- Children of former presidents until age 16
- Visiting heads of foreign states or governments and their spouses traveling with them, other distinguished foreign visitors to the United States, and official representatives of the United States performing special missions abroad
- Major presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election
- Other individuals as designated per Executive Order of the President and
- National Special Security Events, when designated as such by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
How long do former presidents receive Secret Service protection after they leave office? In 1965, Congress authorized the Secret Service (Public Law 89-186) to protect a former president and his/her spouse during their lifetime, unless they decline protection. Source: www.secretservice.gov/faq.shtml#faq9And from Wikipedia: "Former presidents were entitled from 1965 to 1996 to lifetime Secret Service protection, for themselves and spouses and children under 16. A 1994 statute, (Pub.L. 103–329), limited post-presidential protection to ten years for presidents inaugurated after January 1, 1997. Under this statute, Bill Clinton would still be entitled to lifetime protection, and all subsequent presidents would have been entitled to ten years' protection. On January 10, 2013, President Barack Obama signed legislation reinstating lifetime Secret Service protection for himself, George W. Bush, and all subsequent presidents. Richard Nixon relinquished his Secret Service protection in 1985, the only president to do so." Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_Presidents_Act#Secret_Service_protection |
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on Nov 5, 2014 13:06:38 GMT
Working and frequenting businesses in New Haven (CT), especially in the Yale University area, I have had one or two double takes followed by "Was that...?" By pedigree, the area will have celebratties stop by, especially around the holidays. Plus, New Haven, combined with some surrounding towns, has become known as "Hollywood East"...the last Indiana Jones movie was largely filmed in & around New Haven.
I think it would be great to test if people recognize somebody that they're not expecting to see around. Then again, would you recognize someone as familiar as your own parents if they were somewhere 'outside their element'??
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Post by the light works on Nov 5, 2014 16:43:47 GMT
Working and frequenting businesses in New Haven (CT), especially in the Yale University area, I have had one or two double takes followed by "Was that...?" By pedigree, the area will have celebratties stop by, especially around the holidays. Plus, New Haven, combined with some surrounding towns, has become known as "Hollywood East"...the last Indiana Jones movie was largely filmed in & around New Haven. I think it would be great to test if people recognize somebody that they're not expecting to see around. Then again, would you recognize someone as familiar as your own parents if they were somewhere 'outside their element'?? on a family vacation to Canadia, we bumped into cousins at a McNopes. or to take it a step further - my number 1 niece recognized herself on the sidelines in an AFV video clip. |
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Post by c64 on Nov 23, 2014 12:30:54 GMT
What would it make of a differe3nce if the jogger had recognized the guy or not?
It's like those stickers on horse trailers "Valuable show horses". What are they trying to tell me? "Valuable show horses - crash into something else!"?. And where are the "Old crooks - crash here" stickers?
It's the same with all those "Baby on board" stickers. The only useful information they convey would be that the driver might have a serious sleep deprivation so you should stay behind this car because you definitely don't want it behind yourself when you brake.
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Post by the light works on Nov 23, 2014 15:29:25 GMT
What would it make of a differe3nce if the jogger had recognized the guy or not? It's like those stickers on horse trailers "Valuable show horses". What are they trying to tell me? "Valuable show horses - crash into something else!"?. And where are the "Old crooks - crash here" stickers? It's the same with all those "Baby on board" stickers. The only useful information they convey would be that the driver might have a serious sleep deprivation so you should stay behind this car because you definitely don't want it behind yourself when you brake. the origin of the baby on board sticker was so the firefighter would know to look for a baby in the infant safety seat in the event of a crash. as for what difference it made whether he recognized him or not: it makes a difference between whether he was just a lout who felt everybody else needed to watch where he was going; or if he was a lout who deliberately ran into the prime minister of his country. |
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 15, 2014 8:34:56 GMT
After a lot of media discussion on why anyone should pay notice to Baby on Board stickers, because most parents would run with them in even if there wasnt a baby on board, and a few Emergency services telling how it delays emergency services until they can be sure you didnt have the baby on board, those damn stickers became unpopular.
It did help that some Comedians took the stand "I dont give a (beep) who is on board it doesnt excuse you for driving like a right (beep), now grow up and behave, it doesnt give you the right to be a (beep)" or words to that effect.
Strangely, there is a lot less of those sticker around now.....
As for that certain "jogger", he has been persuaded to not make any fuss.
They know who he is and where he lives.
Watch the video, no damn way did he run at the prime minister "By accident".....
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Post by c64 on Dec 17, 2014 23:29:56 GMT
After a lot of media discussion on why anyone should pay notice to Baby on Board stickers, because most parents would run with them in even if there wasnt a baby on board, and a few Emergency services telling how it delays emergency services until they can be sure you didnt have the baby on board, those damn stickers became unpopular. It did help that some Comedians took the stand "I dont give a (beep) who is on board it doesnt excuse you for driving like a right (beep), now grow up and behave, it doesnt give you the right to be a (beep)" or words to that effect. Strangely, there is a lot less of those sticker around now..... As for that certain "jogger", he has been persuaded to not make any fuss. They know who he is and where he lives. Watch the video, no damn way did he run at the prime minister "By accident"..... There is a baby food company which includes stickers to some of their products. And if you buy enough, you can order a sticker with the name on it. A while ago I was at a truck stop and noticed that they had giant stickers which were shaped and coloured like the baby food ones: "No ugly baby with !"@# name on board!" |
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 19, 2014 13:01:21 GMT
 Where Durex is a brand of condoms.... In Ausie land, where Lex comes from, I believe its a brand of sticky tape.... Well, I have heard of do-it-yourself, but thats taking the rise?....  |
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 19, 2014 13:04:06 GMT
Give it up for the best answer I seen so far.....  Prize winner right there. |
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Post by wvengineer on Dec 20, 2014 1:49:42 GMT
Part of it is not expecting to see the person there. In my town, you see Alex Trebek in town once a year or so. He like the local trains. William H. Macy and Eddie Diezen stop by a once in a while family. So people know to be on the look out for them. Obama, however, is the opposite. Obama, could pull it off because I don't think any would ever believe he would visit. It's a small town to start with, so politicians avoid the place in favor of larger cities a few hours away where they get much more exposure for the time and the area is conservative in general. Democrats just don't do well here, so they don't bother. Too few people, too little exposure, too much opposition so they skip the area. Add to that you always expect the president to be surrounded by their security detail. For that reason, if he were to just walk down the street, he could possibly be unnoticed. Add to that a coat, hat and maybe sunglasses, it would hide him all the better.
Like the time I was at the National Air & Space Museum and walked right past Angelina Jolie and kids. Didn't know it until the next day.
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